Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Shirt
Tea Description:
Premium black tea pearls from Guangxi Province, China.
Handmade pearls of about 1cm in diameter with distinctive golden tips. Fruity and characteristic aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been devouring the teas that I picked up from Tea Shirt and this is another fantastic offering! Little pearls lovely hand rolled. Who wouldn’t love these?
I have always loved the “pearl” or “ball” like teas. There is something so alluring about watching the tea leaves uncurl in the steeper creating this illusion of the tea leaves dancing in the water. Just a lovely sight.
I prepped my water per the instructions on the package and grabbed a few of the pearls. Dropped them into my steeper and poured the water. I couldn’t wait to watch those leaves uncurl and dance.
Finally the tea was ready and poured myself a huge cuppa and sat down to enjoy. I have to say, this tea was fantastic! Lovely malty notes with a hint of a fruity finish with a slight astringent mouth feel. Everything you would hope a black pearl like tea would be. The flavors yield such a lovely mix of the right amount of each characteristic. So much so that I can’t seem to put my cup down.
My favorite flavor note is this lovely malty woodsy like flavor. It really does mix well with the sweet almost fruity or jam like hint that I’m getting. The fruity notes are very subtle and gentle allowing the black tea flavor to really shine.
Another tea I can’t get enough of from this company. I see a second order on the horizon!
Pineapple Angel Food Cake White Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
All Organic ingredients: White Peony, Pineapple Pieces, Vanilla Bean and Natural Flavors
This particular blend is sold out. Learn what white teas are available here.
Taster’s Review:
Sipdown! Gotta love a sipdown. Sipdowns make me happy and sad. Happy that I’ve enjoyed a tea to the point that I’ve finished it. Sad because if that tea is from 52Teas it means that more than likely that tea is one you can’t get again.
I believe I reviewed this tea on my blog CuppaGeek, but I don’t believe I did here. So I thought with the summer finally upon us, this would be a great tea to try both hot and iced for these upcoming summer months, allowing me to sipdown a tea from my always growing tea stash.
With a tea named Pineapple Angel Food Cake White Tea, there are high expectations of a lush white tea with icing notes and that tropical pineapple feel. A hard goal to hit when it comes to tea, but one that 52Teas did amazingly well!
First I tried the tea hot. Prepped with water at 165F and allowed to steep for about 5 minutes and then allowed to cool for about 3. I took a sip and the flavors exploded. They captured the title of this tea perfectly. Lush notes of a decadent angel food cake with a vanilla icing and pineapple topping. The white tea provides a silky like feel that gives a unique dessert taste. The flavors are subtle but not so much that you can’t pick them out. They mingle together very well and make me sad that I have sipped this tea down. This is a tea that I should have bought a bigger pouch of.
Then after loving the tea as hot, I tried the tea as iced. I have to say this tea sings as a hot tea but as an iced tea it is pretty tasty as well. You still get all of those same notes but the pineapple flavors seem to be a bit sharper. The cake and vanilla notes were my favorite part when I tried the tea hot. Still, absolutely delicious and I have already drank two tall tumblers full and I’m going for a third.
Another wonderful offering from 52Teas. They really do dessert teas justice!
The Brew Is Out There From Geeky Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Geeky Teas
Tea Description:
Green tea with vanilla, orange peels, natural lemon and orange flavor and sunflower petals, goes great with honey from hybridized bees. Brews up a lovely green color.
I want to believe
Taster’s Review:
A tea dedicated to the X-Files?? How great is that!?!
This tea is a lovely green tea with vanilla, orange peels, lemon and orange flavors along with sunflower petals. I nice seemingly calm yet citrus blend. I was actually surprised when I read the description of the tea. I figured a tea dedicated to the X-Files would be more dark or even darker flavors like mocha or hazelnut. But I’m not complaining. This tea sounds fabulous to me. Maybe the green tea represents little green men 🙂
Prepped up my water for this green lovely tea and waited for the tea to steep (about 4 minutes) all the while I enjoyed the lovely dry leave notes from the tin I had received. The notes are fresh citrus notes that scream summertime.
Finally my tea was ready to try and I poured myself a huge cuppa. The first notes I noticed was a lovely vegetal one with a touch of sweetness. Then the gorgeous wave of citrus swept thru. Not a complex tea by any means but one that has a fantastic finish with the vegetal green flavors, the sweet creamy notes of the vanilla and the citrus finish. Each flavor plays nicely with each other and doesn’t dominate by any means. Having that vegetal green tea being the first note you get really elevates the tea. I can almost pick up a hint of an orange dreamsicle. Really lovely.
I wanted to try this tea as an iced tea, hoping that I could pull out of those citrus and vanilla notes. As an iced tea, the vegetal notes are more subtle and the vanilla notes really pop. I think if I make a cold brew out of this, I will get that orange dreamsicle flavor that would be amazing for these summer months.
Overall, loving this tea. Classic tea combo that the majority of people would enjoy. A great starter tea for those who are just getting into tea but also a delicious simple tea for tea enthusiasts. This is a combo that I’ve had a few different times over but have had mixed results. Some have too strong of a vanilla flavor, others not enough citrus. This is a great well blended version!
Coconut Flan Genmaicha from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Green Tea, Popped Rice, Shredded Coconut, and Natural flavors
This tea is no longer available but learn more about available blends here.
Taster’s Review:
So today I was finally able to set myself done and try this tea. With having coconut and genmaicha going on with the blend, I thought for sure I would devour this tea. So much so that I ordered an additional taster size for it.
I asked a co-worker is she wanted to try the tea with me and she eagerly grabbed her mug and we set to steeping.
The dry leaf mixture had a lovely and bright coconut fresh smell. I wouldn’t say sun tan lotion like but there is a resemblance. The coconut smelled amazing and I wanted to bottle up the smell into a candle.
We steeped the tea per the package instructions and waited impatiently for the timer to let us know the tea was ready. We allowed the tea to cool for a minute and took our first sip.
She loved the tea. She said it was just smooth roasted coconut love. She was all smiles while drinking it and she barely sat the cup down.
When I took my first sip, I didn’t get a whole lot of flavor so I allowed the tea to cool even more. After a few more minutes, I took another sip. As much as I wanted to love this tea, it just isn’t one that I am loving hot. I’m getting a nice toasted flavor but I don’t know if I like it mixed with the coconut and then on top of all of that, with a hot temperature. I’m wondering if this is a tea that needs to be either cold brewed or iced to really get that tropical feel out of it.
Don’t get me wrong the tea is fine and I have no issue with finishing my cup. I just can’t say that I want more of it. This might just be a tea that I need to experiment with.
Off to make some iced tea!
Liquid Luck from Friday Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Friday Tea
Tea Description:
This golden brew is one of Tea Girl’s finest! A magical tisane that reminds us of a peach orchard at the height of summer. Warm, fruity, herby, and slightly spiced. Definitely a favorite hot or iced!
Ingredients: Peach, apple, orange, cinnamon, chamomile, blue cornflower
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been wanting to try Friday Tea’s offerings for a while. And to my delight the other day I received a box from them thru a gift exchange I recently participated in.
This tea was the first one I had to try. A lovely herbal blend of peaches, apple, orange cinnamon, chamomile, and blue cornflower. The tea itself was gorgeous to look at and smelled amazingly fruity . I couldn’t wait to brew the tea up.
Steeped in water that was fresh boiled and allowed to sit for a few minutes, this tea was amazingly fruity, vibrant and delicious. You first get a lovely base of the peaches with notes of cinnamon giving the tea a bit of a spiced kick, but a gentle kick. The chamomile comes in next providing the blend with an almost baked dessert feeling and taste. Each sip finishes off with a lush citrus note that lovingly completes the tea.
What I am trying to say, is this tea is dynamite! One of the better herbal teas I’ve had in a while and one that is impressive from the first sip. I’m on my second infusion and this tea is continuing to give this really bright and vibrant peachy flavor. I can just imagine making this into a cold brew or as an iced tea. This is one of those teas that will be amazing (I bet) anyway you prep it.
I’m excited to dig into the rest of the box to see what other lovely teas I have from them. I see a possible order in my future! Friday Tea offers quite a few unique teas that I can’t wait to check out.